Biotope-dependent resistance to reactive oxygen species, antibiotic tolerance, and virulence of Staphylococcus aureus
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The human and livestock pathogen Staphylococcus aureus poses a major clinical challenge due to antibiotic treatment failure. Its resilience is mainly attributed to antibiotic resistance and tolerance mechanisms related to persistence. Here we investigate how two infection-relevant conditions, milk and serum, shape S. aureus pathogenic properties and capacity to withstand environmental stresses. Milk- versus serum-grown bacteria show gross differences in envelope physical properties, membrane fatty acid composition and rigidity, and pigment production, and display distinct proteomic profiles. Compared to growth in serum, S. aureus grown in milk exhibits extreme resistance to ROS damage, marked antimicrobial tolerance, and accelerated killing in a larval infection model. High level S. aureus pigmentation in whole milk is stimulated by milk lipids, and is responsible for high ROS resistance. The remarkable robustness of S. aureus in a milk biotope may signal the need to adjust antibiotic regimens when treating mastitis infections in humans and livestock.
Source: Communications Biology
Institutions: AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Microbiologie de l’alimentation au service de la santé, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, University of Ottawa, University of Belgrade, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, University of Udine, Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative, École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Biologie et Pharmacologie Appliquée
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,190
Funders: University of Ottawa, Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance, European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, Ministarstvo Prosvete, Nauke i Tehnološkog Razvoja, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement
Awards: G1123130574, G1446243131, G3001663348, Optimisation of bi-therapy inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus in persistent and bacteremic infections, G4344760965, MONITORING AND DETECTION OF BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC POLLUTANTS BY ELECTRONIC, PLANTS AND MICROORGANISMS BASED SENSORS, G6611438137, Transient dormancy and recovery as a strategy for antimicrobial escape: Can the escape route be blocked?, G8414802657, G8580707614, Integration of PAper-based Nucleic acid testing mEthods into Microfluidic devices for improved biosensing Applications
OpenAlex ID: W7215096366